World

 From Sydney to San Francisco, the world's major cities mark the beginning of the new year with grand firework displays and other traditions.

Fireworks illuminated skies over Paris, Rio and Sydney to celebrate the entry to 2024, while in Israel, Gaza and Ukraine, rockets and strikes marked the year's earliest hours.

Friday’s action reflects South Africa’s solidarity with the Palestinian cause — and its domestic and foreign interests

Pope Francis recalls 2023 as a year marked by wartime suffering

From immigration to AI, the billionaire and the Italian prime minister are finding common ground.

Early optimism is being replaced by anxiety as politics threatens Ukraine's aid channels

The United Nations has warned that one country is in dire need of humanitarian help, with a third of the population in trouble.

Turkey ties Sweden's NATO membership to lifting of Canadian arms embargo

Pope Francis has formally approved allowing priests to bless same-sex couples in a new document explaining a radical change in Vatican policy.

The activation of Article 7 was reportedly floated after Budapest blocked a massive financial support package for Kiev

There are signs US President Joe Biden could be next to break ranks against Israel as the friendship becomes increasingly strained.

The Russian president blamed Washington for masterminding the 2014 coup in Kiev, which led to the current conflict

153 nations voted for the ceasefire resolution in a rebuke to the US, which last week blocked a similar Security Council resolution

Biden, ahead of a meeting with Zelenskiy in the White House's Oval Office, told him: "We're gonna stay at your side."

Ukrainian and U.S. officials have also noted friction between Zelensky and his commander in chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny. 

The two nations are cooperating in fields ranging from infrastructure projects to education, the president has said

In an interview with FRANCE 24, former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019) reacted to the US Senate withholding a major package of financial and military aid for Kyiv. Poroshenko warned that the coming days are among "the most important in Ukrainian history" and undoubtedly for the world. He called it "absolutely unacceptable" that Ukraine can be the "hostage" of other issues such as internal politics ahead of next year's US presidential elections.